Video policy: speech videos are intended as a tool for speakers to see their own performances and think about how they can improve. Even though these are on YouTube, they are published as “unlisted” by default, meaning they won’t show up in search results. Don’t forward these links or post them on Facebook or in any other forum without the speaker’s permission. From time to time, we may ask a speaker for permission to use a video as part of our marketing of the club. Volunteers are also welcome – if you’re proud of a particular speech, let us know.

In this video replay of an Online Presenters workshop, Sheryl Roush guides us through the process of connecting with any audience (online or off) by understanding the different communication styles of audience members.

Jim Guld and Chris Guld of Geeks on Tour shared the basics of light, video, and sound you need to understand to do professional live video. They host a weekly YouTube Live show on technology for travelers as a service to attendees at their in-person seminars and members of their subscription website. They have recently added a second weekly show on Facebook Live.

Because they do these broadcasts on the road, from a traveling studio in their camper van, as well as from their home office, they offer a unique perspective on how to achieve a professional setup in any circumstance.

This is the replay of a Facebook Live broadcast with tips for speakers and Toastmasters leaders about how to use the Facebook platform. You may want to fast forward to about 3:40 when the program really begins (or look at how I try to stall for time in those first few minutes while I’m finishing the preparations I couldn’t get done until the broadcast started streaming).

Facebook Live is a very powerful tool for democratizing access to online video broadcasting, but until recently I thought of it as something you could only do from your phone. I knew some professional broadcasters had put on more elaborate productions, but I didn’t realize those techniques were within easy reach thanks to free open source software.

He pointed me to a Social Media Examiner tutorial on connecting the OBS Studio software to the Facebook Live service. That article does a great job of explaining all the detailed settings you need to get right for OBS and Facebook Live to work together. What I’m sharing below are the things I needed to figure out for myself as I considered how I would put these tools to work. In particular, the Social Media Examiner tutorial gives a passing mention to the ability to define different combinations of auto, video, and images as “scenes” in the OBS software and switch between them during the program.

That is what I explore in detail in this first video clip.

Going Live

To stream from OBS Studio to Facebook Live, you first obtain an API key code from Facebook and enter it into OBS.

Connecting Facebook Live to Streaming Software

Here is what that process looks like:

Important: If you will be looking at the audience view of your broadcast (as shown here) on another tab of your laptop, or on another device such as an iPad, be sure to mute the speakers (otherwise you’ll get a really horrible echo).

Another way of getting the link to your program is to schedule it in advance. Here’s how.

John Haydon visited Online Presenters to show how he and his clients have used Facebook Live successfully to engage with customers, prospects, supporters, and donors. Haydon is the author of Facebook Marketing for Dummies and an authority on social media marketing strategies for nonprofits.

Ironically, given that most of his Hump Day shows are just him talking to the camera (his iPhone mounted on a tripod), you won’t see his face in this recording because he was unable to get his laptop webcam working with our online meetings software. I’ve also shared an example of one of his programs, where the topic was also Facebook Live, below.

Here is a great example of a typical Hump Day show, one in which Haydon is discussing Facebook Live ideas for nonprofits participating in the November 28 #GivingTuesday online event.

In addition to the selfie video style of presentation, I have also seen him do a Facebook Live show from his laptop, including screen sharing. That is possible to do with Facebook Live, although it requires additional software. He uses OBS Studio, a free open source product (see this how-to article). If you need to demo software, that can make sense. However, if you really want to make an emotional connection with your audience, talking directly to the camera may be best.

I’ve done some experiments of my own using OBS Studio and Facebook Live, in search of ways to blend the best of both modes by switching between screen sharing and face-on-camera modes. See my tutorial.

In our workshop, Haydon shared a number of other styles of Facebook Live use, including real estate walkthroughs and broadcasting feeding time for puppies from the animal shelter, that he has seen used effectively.

I believe this is a powerful tool for doing online presentations that Toastmasters ought to learn to use effectively.

Online Toastmasters Resources

Thank You to RingCentral

The online meeting software for our events is provided courtesy of RingCentral, which includes RingCentral Meetings with both its cloud-based business phone service and the Glip team messaging and collaboration platform.

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